This is Iliar. Iliar is the same age as me – 27. He was born in a remote village in the Permet region of Southern Albania. He was one of twins, but complications at birth meant that Iliar's twin brother only lived for a few days. As for Iliar - he spent the first three months of his life in an incubator. Conditions were grim in the ill-equipped hospital and an operation to straighten his twisted feet (a straight forward operation in any western country) was not possible. This has left him with a strong upper body, but he has no other option but to get about by shuffling around on his knees. As you can see – Iliar’s house is very small, and they are a very poor family, with only one bread-winner in the family.


Richard (a missionary here for 11 years) found a very good looking buggy that was in an aid warehouse in Albania's capital, Tirana. After transporting it for 7 hours in the back of his vehicle directly to Iliar's home, he was extremely disappointed to discover that there was a fault. Despite being told at the warehouse that it had been tested and was in good working order, we cannot repair it. A new part is needed and parts are not available in Albania. As you can see from the photo – the buggy would be amazing with Iliar’s road being such a rough terrain.

I am making enquiries from this end for a replacement part, but any assistance from the UK (or anywhere else for that matter) would be much appreciated. I can send details to anyone who would like to help.

After taking a bit of a break from learning verbs – my head couldn’t any more!! I am back in the books, studying more words than you can shake a stick at. Tomorrow I will tackle the 3rd group of verbs – the most difficult of them all, as they do not follow any pattern.
As a taster – here’s the verb ‘to hurry’

English HURRY
Unë Shpejtoj
Ti Shpejton
Aj / Ajo Shpejton
Ne Spejtojmë
Ju Shpejtoni
Ata / Ato Shpejtojnë
Past Unë kam Shpejtuar
Fut –Unë do të Shpejtoj
Order Shpejto

Now try learning 40 of them! :o)

I’ll leave you with more pics from the beach – there was some waves yesterday (which was a rarity, as normally the sea is like a sheet of glass). Enjoy.